I tried my hand at gardening a few years ago and determined that I am not a talented digger. There is something about the way you have to hold a shovel to be productive that I just can’t handle. My digging attempts usually ended in me covered in sweat, and a very small hole that I would have to get someone else to come and finish.
In the movie “Holes” Stanley Yelnats digs a five foot hole every single day. In the movie he has been sent to a juvenile detention center where their punishment is to dig a hole everyday. Stanley was sent to the detention center after he was accused of stealing a pair of shoes, a crime that he did not commit but was still punished for.
The movie is based on the books of Louis Sacher who makes a brief appearance in the movie as a balding man. During the movie we as an audience get to watch the mystery as to why the boys dig a hole everyday, we also get to take a look back at the life of Stanley’s great-grandfather.
Holes does to some extent treat its audience like they are adults looking at issues like racism and how the choices we make effect our lives. This movie is probably over the heads of younger children and should not be viewed by children under ten or eleven. If you want to show it to a younger child you may want to preview it first.
If your children enjoy the movie then they will probably also enjoy the books which the movie was based on Holes, as well as the companion book Stanley Yelnats’ Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake
Holes is rated PG and is available where DVDs are sold as well as online at Amazon.com